Isaiah 43

1 But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Do not fear, for I have redeemed thee, I have named thee; Thou art mine.

2 When thou dost pass through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou dost walk through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

3 For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Keeper; I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.

4 Because thou wast precious in my sight, thou wast worthy of honour, and I have loved thee.

5 Do not fear; for I am with thee: I will bring thy generation from the east and gather thee from the west;

6 I will say to the north wind, Give up, and to the south, Do not keep back; bring my sons from far and my daughters from the ends of the earth

7 even every one that is called by my name, for I have created them for my glory; I have formed them; yea, I have made them.

8 Bring forth the people that is blind that have eyes and the deaf that have ears.

9 Let all the Gentiles be gathered together as one, and let the peoples be joined; who among them can declare this and show us former things? Let them bring forth their witnesses that they may be justified or let them hear and say, It is truth.

10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my slave whom I have chosen that ye may know and believe me and understand that I am he; before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.

11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.

12 I have declared and have saved, and I have showed when there was no strange god among you; therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God.

13 Even before the day was I existed; and there is no one that can deliver out of my hand; if I work, who shall hinder it?

14 Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon and caused fugitives to descend unto all of them and the clamour of Chaldeans in the ships.

15 I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King.

16 Thus saith the LORD, who makes a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters;

17 when he brings forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall fall together, and never rise; they are extinct; they are quenched as wick.

18 Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old.

19 Behold, I will do a new thing; it shall come to light quickly; shall ye not know it? I will again make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

20 The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls because I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert to give drink to my people, my chosen.

21 This people I have formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise.

22 But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel.

23 Thou hast not brought me the animals of thy burnt offerings; neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense.

24 Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices, but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins; thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.

25 I, even I, am he that uproots thy rebellions for mine own sake and will not remember thy sins.

26 Cause me to remember; let us enter into judgment together; declare, thou, that it may be put to thy account.

27 Thy first father sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me.

28 Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary and have set up Jacob as anathema, and Israel as a reproach.

Isaiah 43 Commentary

God's unchangeable love for his people. (1-7) Apostates and idolaters addressed. (8-13) The deliverance from Babylon, and the conversion of the Gentiles. (14-21) Admonition to repent of sin. (22-28)

Verses 1-7 God's favour and good-will to his people speak abundant comfort to all believers. The new creature, wherever it is, is of God's forming. All who are redeemed with the blood of his Son, he has set apart for himself. Those that have God for them need not fear who or what can be against them. What are Egypt and Ethiopia, all their lives and treasures, compared with the blood of Christ? True believers are precious in God's sight, his delight is in them, above any people. Though they went as through fire and water, yet, while they had God with them, they need fear no evil; they should be born up, and brought out. The faithful are encouraged. They were to be assembled from every quarter. And with this pleasing object in view, the prophet again dissuades from anxious fears.

Verses 8-13 Idolaters are called to appear in defence of their idols. Those who make them, and trust in them, are like unto them. They have the shape and faculties of men; but they have not common sense. But God's people know the power of his grace, the sweetness of his comforts, the kind care of his providence, and the truth of his promise. All servants of God can give such an account of what he has wrought in them, and done for them, as may lead others to know and believe his power, truth, and love

Verses 14-21 The deliverance from Babylon is foretold, but there is reference to greater events. The redemption of sinners by Christ, the conversion of the Gentiles, and the recall of the Jews, are described. All that is to be done to rescue sinners, and to bring the believer to glory, is little, compared with that wondrous work of love, the redemption of man.

Verses 22-28 Those who neglect to call upon God, are weary of him. The Master tired not the servants with his commands, but they tired him with disobedience. What were the riches of God's mercy toward them? I, even I, am he who yet blotteth out thy transgressions. This encourages us to repent, because there is forgiveness with God, and shows the freeness of Divine mercy. When God forgives, he forgets. It is not for any thing in us, but for his mercies' sake, his promise' sake; especially for his Son's sake. He is pleased to reckon it his honour. Would man justify himself before God? The attempt is desperate: our first father broke the covenant, and we all have copied his example. We have no reason to expect pardon, except we seek it by faith in Christ; and that is always attended by true repentance, and followed by newness of life, by hatred of sin, and love to God. Let us then put him in remembrance of the promises he has made to the penitent, and the satisfaction his Son has made for them. Plead these with him in wrestling for pardon; and declare these things, that thou mayest be justified freely by his grace. This is the only way, and it is a sure way to peace.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 43

Is this chapter the Lord comforts his own people, under their afflictions, with many precious promises; asserts his deity against the idols of the nations; promises deliverance from Babylon, and a greater redemption than that; one branch of which is forgiveness of sin; and closes the chapter with a prediction of the destruction of the Jews by the Romans, for their iniquities. The Lord claims his interest in his people, not only on the foot of creation, but of redemption and calling, and promises them his presence in the midst of afflictions, Isa 43:1,2, puts them in mind of what he had done for them; and assures them of future layouts, as the effect of his unchangeable love to them, Isa 43:3,4 and promises the conversion of their seed and offspring in the several parts of the world, Isa 43:5-7 then challenges the Heathen nations to give such proofs of the deity of their idols as he was capable of giving of his, as his people were witnesses, taken from his eternity and immutability, as the alone Jehovah, and from his omniscience and omnipotence, Isa 43:8-13, after which the destruction of Babylon is prophesied of, and the redemption of his people out of it; which they are encouraged to believe from his being Jehovah, their Sanctifier, Creator, and King; and from what he had done formerly for them, when he brought them out of Egypt, Isa 43:14-17, and which yet was not to be mentioned or remembered, in comparison of what he would do in the world, a new thing, redemption by the Messiah, and the conversion of the Gentiles to the glory of his grace, Isa 43:18-21, the sins of omission and commission the people of God had been guilty of are mentioned, which are freely pardoned for Christ's sake, Isa 43:22-25 when the body and bulk of the Jewish nation were given up to destruction, because of their sins, Isa 43:26-28.